The 2020 count already has been tarred by a ferocious battle over Republican efforts to enumerate noncitizens nationwide, a fight that is likely to depress census response next year among minorities who are mistrustful of the government. The Census Bureau works to encourage participation, but this time around, its resources are spread especially thin. “And if we miss it, we’re going to be undercounted again for the next 10 years.”In Texas, a bill to commit $50 million to census response died this spring in the Republican-controlled Legislature. The remaining 20 percent moved from other states, led by California, which is expected to lose a House seat for the first time ever — and which is sparing no expense to maximize its census tally. Although the Census Bureau publishes a map showing response to the 2010 census in all 66,000 census tracts, California commissioned its own map, ranking a tract’s expected census response according to 14 variables like education, income and housing type (a tract in Stockton, in the Central Valley breadbasket, is the toughest target).

Source: New York Times December 15, 2019 22:18 UTC